Welcome to the ninth season of the Len Ziehm on Golf website, and this will be a milestone year for us. It marks my 50th year reporting on golf, starting way back with Jack Nicklaus’ victory in the 1968 Western Open at Olympia Fields, and 2018 started with a career highlight.

I was honored three times at the 24th International Network of Golf Media Awards during the 65th PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. I was the winner in the Competition Writing category and an Outstanding Achiever in both Competition Writing and Travel Writing. Details are available in the Features section of this website.

While those honors were a career highlight, our aim from the beginning of Len Ziehm on Golf remains — to touch on all phases of our sport through columns in Chicago’s Daily Herald and Chicagoland Golf and a wide range of other freelance writing projects. They include pieces in newspapers, magazines, program pieces, websites and books.

Our focus broadened in 2017, as we became Florida residents at PGA Village — the winter home of the PGA of America in Port St. Lucie, FL. But, we will continue to cover the Midwest scene in the spring and summer months. There will be plenty of on-site reports from there, as shown by our hectic schedule in 2017 when we reported on the NCAA finals at Rich Harvest Farms, the U.S. Open at Erin Hills and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Olympia Fields, the John Deere Classic in Silvis, IL., and the first Señior LPGA Championship at French Lick, Ind. All of our writings can be checked out on social media outlets Facebook (see Facebook.com/lenziehmongolf), Twitter (see @ZiehmLen) and Linked In.

Competition writing provided an award winning moment in 2018, but our aim is to cover all areas of golf.

There continues to be a big focus on golf travel destinations in 2018. The demands of tournament coverage limited our Travel Destination stops for much of 2017 but we finished out the year by playing in the Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship in South Carolina and then resuming our routine with a series of stops in Florida — at courses in the Panhandle, Streamsong, Daytona Beach and Innisbrook Resort near Tampa plus a visit to history-rich Miami Springs. The spirit of travel adventures will continue.

Our reports on each of those visits can be found under Travel Destinations in this website as well as a variety of other media outlets. Since the creation of the LZOG website we have produced Golf Destination reports from 24 states and been included in Golf Top 18 website’s listing of top course reviewers (accompanying tag on this page). That site credited our Travel Destination reports for “giving you the historical feel and information on a golf course, so you can feel its roots….Not a technical shot by shot reviewer, Len gives the reader photos and the feel of a course through his eloquent words.”

As was the case in the 2018 ING Media Awards, I was also an Outstanding Achievers in travel writing at the 2017 ING Media Awards.

This LZOG website continues to have working arrangements with two golf travel-related websites that are based in other Midwestern states. Golf Now! Chicago — Cheryl Justak’s premier golf destination guide, and GolfTrips.com, a series of sites produced by Brian Weis that dates back to 2004. Cheryl is based in Indiana and Brian in Wisconsin.

In 2017 we added our first partner site in Florida, Jason Bruno’s LinksNation. Jason brings his expertise on equipment as well as the Florida scene. We also have added our first partner site from the telecommunications world — Dave Lockhart’s Links Video — and will also continue to work in tandem with our original two website partners — Rory Spears’ Golfers On Golf and Tim Cronin’s Illinois Golfer.

In coming years we expect to do more book-related projects than we have in the past (see Books section of this website). In the last five years we’ve written three books, highlighted by the well-received memoir of the 2012 Ryder Cup matches for the members of Medinah Country Club. Others, written but still to be published, chronicle the golf histories of Kinderlou Forest in Georgia and French Lick Resort in Indiana. I’ve also written segments for two other books — a guide to the Solheim Cup and a report on the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.

Our columns in the Daily Herald chain of Chicago newspapers and Chicagoland Golf newspaper remain the nucleus of our other writing projects on display here, along with a variety of writings in Chicago District Golfer magazine. I’ve been golf columnist for the Daily Herald since 2009 and am starting my 28th year writing columns as well as features for Chicagoland Golf. I’m also the feature writer for the Illinois PGA website.

Over the years I’ve also done special pieces for various other publications. More recently they include program pieces for the PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship and Ryder Cup, a travel piece in Links Magazine and tournament reports for USA Today.

What’s The Latest?

Our Photos

While we have occasionally used photography provided by outside sources, the bulk of the pictures produced by Len Ziehm on Golf have been taken by Joy Sarver. We have travelled extensively to develop this website and her well-received photos have enhanced most all the pieces on these pages.

Our Partners

Golf Now Chicago
– Cheryl Justak, based in Indiana, will be celebrating the 16th anniversary edition of her printed golf guide in 2018 and she also delivers periodic newsletters..

Golfers on Golf Radio
Big Three partner Rory Spears hosts the longest-running Chicago golf radio show and is also a frequent contributor to area golf publications. .

Illinois Golfer
Big Three partner Tim Cronin, well-known for his books on golf history, has developed a website filled with news from a Chicago perspective.l.

Links Video
Dave Lockhart is Chicago’s premier golf videographer and has won awards for his pieces on travel destinations.

LinksNation
Florida-based Jason Bruno touches on all phases of golf but brings a unique perspective on equipment issues.

From Our Peers

The Golf Channel's Damon Hack helped me celebrate a big night on Jan. 24, 2018, when I was honored for three of my pieces at the 24th International Network of Golf's Media Awards in Orlando, FL. Damon was the emcee for the awards presentation.